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Duke basketball sophomore proving he could make legitimate impact on opening night

The Blue Devils could be proving to have a much deeper bench than many expected this season

Duke's Countdown To Craziness 2025; Duke basketball guard Darren Harris | Lance King/GettyImages

The Duke basketball team is hoping to be a deeper squad this season when healthy.

The mix of returning players plus a loaded recruiting class has many dreaming big despite the departure of the entire starting five from last season, including No. 1 overall pick and National Player of the Year Cooper Flagg.

Hope grew even more when the Blue Devils took the court for the first time this season on Tuesday night in an exhibition game against UCF despite not having freshman guard Dame Sarr (oblique) and senior center Maliq Brown (knee).